Previously: “Ears.”
In this week’s creepypasta, the eerie incompleteness of childhood memories meets a television program that shouldn’t exist — to terrifying results. Titled “The Children’s Show,” this creepypasta made its way to the Creepypasta Wikia in June of 2017 courtesy of user Rainywindows — and it’s effective in all the right ways. As always, what we don’t see is more unsettling than what we do see; for me, the hint of horror will always win out over overt, all-questions-answered stories.
There’s no specific date or year attached to “The Children’s Show,” but to me, it smacks strongly of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s — or, more accurately, of the fears that fueled the Satanic Panic, rather than what actually happened (because what actually happened was… nothing, really, in terms of the alleged activity; the moral panic surrounding the idea of possible Satanic activity caused all the damage here, not any actual “Satanic” activity).
[Like what you read? Check out Dangerous Games To Play In The Dark, available from Chronicle Books now!]
Regardless, this one worms its way under your skin and makes a nest there — exactly the way the haziest of memories from your earliest years often tend to do.
***
My family moved to the rural town I grew up in to escape to a quiet, calm atmosphere. Acres of land separated the neighbors’ houses from each other and grass meadows were spread out hundreds of yards. I couldn’t invite over any of my old friends from the town I formerly lived in, and the houses were too far from each other to approach any of the neighbor’s homes on my own and meet any other children. I spent most of my time in the first few weeks living there in the front yard of our house, sitting on the lawn and playing with my toys as my mother sat on the porch watching me.
Although most of my memory from our short period living in that house is hazy, I distinctly remember a few events that transpired there while I was five. It began when I was sitting in front of the television, flipping through the channels and searching for my favorite show, a children’s programme featuring singing and talking animals. It was only on in the afternoons and I couldn’t find any station playing an episode, so I continued to search the channels. We didn’t receive an abundancy of channels in that town, but I could find a couple popular stations.
I landed on a show I was familiar with. I remember glancing at the corner of the screen and discerning it was a children’s station broadcasting various well-known shows.
My wide eyes glanced up at the bright, flashing television screen. Cartoon drawn animals were helping children learn how to share. A joyful melody played throughout the episode.
The following week, I was sitting in front of the television and I stumbled across the children’s station again, but it was broadcasting a different program. I can’t remember the title of show I found, but I can vividly remember everything that happened.
***
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[Photo via Javaistan/Pixabay]
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